


Inheritance

by akamine_chan



Category: due South
Genre: Community: ds_snippets, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-06
Updated: 2008-04-06
Packaged: 2017-10-15 18:09:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The box was plain and hand-carved, the closest thing he had to an heirloom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inheritance

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to the smart and talented keerawa for the quick beta. Supportive, encouraging and a tremendous writer. Thank you, m'dear.
> 
> Prompt: ribbon
> 
> More information on the Cross of Valour [here](http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group02/cv).

The box was plain and hand-carved, the closest thing he had to an heirloom. It had been made as a courting gift by his grandfather, skillfully crafted and presented to his future bride. Ben's grandmother had lined it with a rich, dark velvet and had stored her most precious trinkets in it. The box had traveled with the Frasers over oceans and across continents, carefully protected from damage and theft through the years.

On his grandmother's death, the box passed to Bob Fraser. By the time Bob had managed to obtain a leave of absence, Martha had been laid to rest and her house closed up, her few belongings carefully packed and stored away by Ben. He hadn't packed the box, with its wealth of heirlooms, assuming that his father would want it.

Bob Fraser had taken one look at the box, blanched and ignored it. When he left two days later, the box was still on the table. Ben opened it and gently touched some of the items within, recalling their stories: a brass skeleton key, a perfectly smooth black stone, a seashell, a dried seed pod that rattled pleasingly when Ben shook it. Some sea glass. A four-leaf clover pressed flat and sealed in a clear pendent.

When his father had been killed, Ben had been given his RCMP decorations. The 30-Year Long Service medal. Other commendations. Ben had carefully tucked them away in his grandmother's box.

Now, years later, Ben was adding his own treasures to the box. The Cross of Valour, awarded for his part in the Muldoon case. He traced the outline of the enameled cross and the red ribbon it hung from. He wondered if his father would finally be proud of him.

-fin-


End file.
